Parking plan on track for downtown New Bern

By Todd Wetherington, Sun Journal Staff

Wednesday

Jun 20, 2018 at 5:12 PMJun 20, 2018 at 5:12 PM

A plan designed to improve parking in downtown New Bern will officially be unveiled next month. Changes will include enforcement of the city’s longstanding downtown parking limit as well as new signs and free parking areas.

Beginning July 9, two-hour, on-street parking will be enforced for an area bound by Broad Street and continuing to the Trent River. Broad Street and Union Point Park will not be subject to the parking enforcement. The two-hour parking area will extend down Middle and Craven streets as well as Pollock Street (to Hancock Street) and Sout Front Street (to Metcalf Street).

The parking enforcement will take place between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, with the exception of holidays and areas identified as 15-minute parking spaces.

According to New Bern Ward 1 Aldermen Sabrina Bengel, the city is in the process of training three part-time “parking ambassadors” who will be tasked with enforcing the two-hour parking limit.

First-time violators will be issued a warning but will not be fined. Second-time offenders will receive a $25 ticket. If not paid within 30 days, the fine will be increased to $50.

Bengel stressed that the two-hour, on-street parking ordinance has been on the city’s books for years, but has been inadequately enforced for the last decade.

“In 2008, the city decided not to fund a parking enforcer, because of lack of money in the budget, and we’ve had no one since” said Bengel. “So the two-hour limit isn’t new.”

Bengel said she was hopeful the move would help free up parking spaces downtown, a request she said that came directly from the area’s business owners. Bengel admitted she was “a little frustrated” by comments she has seen on social media criticizing the parking plan.

“We’ve been battling this for years,” she noted. “I don't know of another thriving city where you can go where you don't have to pay for parking.”

The parking plan was developed by the Master Parking Plan Advisory Committee, which included former aldermen Dallas Blackiston and E.T. Mitchell, current alderman Jeffrey Odham, the city manager and city clerk as well as members of the Swiss Bear development group, the Downtown Merchants Council and the Young Professionals Group. The committee, which presented its findings to the New Bern Board of Aldermen last November, was tasked with making recommendations on items ranging from the enforcement of parking time limits to the prohibition of parking meters and parking rates for downtown lots.

Other recommendations made by the committee that have already been completed or are near completion include the establishment of three free parking lots — at the South end of Craven street (Red Bear Parking Lot); at the New Bern Farmers Market near South Front and Hancock streets (Gold Bear Parking Lot); and at the corner of New and Hancock streets (Black Bear Parking Lot.)

According to Bengel, with the inclusion of the new lots, downtown New Bern now has more than 600 free parking spaces.

New, enhanced signage indicating the two hour parking enforcement and directing visitors to the free parking areas is also planned for downtown. City Manager Mark Stephens said most of the new street signs are in place, while the remaining parking lot signs should be up by July 9.

According to Bengel, the next step in the downtown parking plan would be to look at possible changes to the city’s leased parking spaces. The Master Parking Plan Advisory Committee originally recommended increasing the cost of the leased spaces from $20 to $35 annually. Bengel said that recommendation, as well as the overall results of the parking plan, would be reviewed this fall.

According to Bengel, the changes implemented through the parking plan are being funded by dollars from the Municipal Service District tax, which is paid by property owners in the downtown business district.

Bengel said the initial cost of the plan would be about $50,000, which includes the purchase of a vehicle, uniforms and a computer for the parking ambassadors. An additional cost of $34,000 annually has been budgeted to cover the ambassadors’ salaries, said Bengel.

Michael Lentz, owner of Pollock Street Pub and Oyster Bar, said that, while he’s not opposed to the parking plan, he believes a better solution exists.

“Something has to be done. We can't just stay with the status quo,” said Lentz. “But there’s a lot of little historical cities like ours along the East Coast that have come up with different systems that I think would work better.”

Lentz said he would be in favor of extending the parking limit to three hours.

“I just think two is not enough, but four hours would probably be too many. Part of the problem now is our business people park on the street; then they go to lunch and come back and that’s their day,” said Lentz.

The former Baltimore-area resident said he would also be in favor of another solution proposed by past city leaders — a parking deck.

“I’ve seen parking decks work and I think that might be the best solution. I’m used to bigger cities where it’s not a big deal to have to walk a block or two blocks,” he said.

Last November, Greg Smith, the late owner of Mitchell’s Hardware, said he was pleased with the direction of the parking plan.

“I think it’s very exciting,” said Smith. “We’ve been here 30 years and I’ve watched the town grow. The biggest challenge is the parking situation in the middle part of the day; that’s just a fact. I’m proud we have people who are working to come up with solutions for the challenges we have.”

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